System Utilities

Search…
System Utilities
This set of utilities exposes some of Raycast's native functionality to allow deep integration into the user's setup. For example, you can use the Application APIs to check if a desktop application is installed and then provide an action to deep-link into it.
API Reference
getApplications
Returns all applications that can open the file.
Signature
async function getApplications(path?: PathLike): Promise<Application[]>;
Example
import { getApplications } from "@raycast/api";
​
export default async () => {
  const installedApplications = await getApplications();
  console.log("The following applications are installed on your Mac:");
  console.log(installedApplications.map((a) => a.name).join(", "));
};
Parameters
Name
Description
Type
path
The path of the file or folder to get the applications for. If no path is specified, all installed applications are returned.
​PathLike​
Return
An array of Application.
getDefaultApplication
Returns the default application that the file would be opened with.
Signature
async function getDefaultApplication(path: PathLike): Promise<Application>;
Example
import { getDefaultApplication } from "@raycast/api";
​
export default async () => {
  const defaultApplication = await getDefaultApplication(__filename);
  console.log(`Default application for JavaScript is: ${defaultApplication.name}`);
};
Parameters
Name
Description
Type
path*
The path of the file or folder to get the default application for.
​PathLike​
Return
The default Application that would open the file. Throws an error if no application was found.
showInFinder
Shows a file or directory in the Finder.
Signature
async function showInFinder(path: PathLike): Promise<void>;
Example
import { showInFinder } from "@raycast/api";
import { homedir } from "os";
import { join } from "path";
​
showInFinder(join(homedir(), "Downloads"));
Parameters
Name
Description
Type
path*
The path to show in the Finder.
​PathLike​
Return
A Promise that resolves when the item is revealed in the Finder.
trash
Moves a file or directory to the Trash.
Signature
async function trash(path: PathLike | PathLike[]): Promise<void>;
Example
import { trash } from "@raycast/api";
import { writeFile } from "fs/promises";
import { homedir } from "os";
import { join } from "path";
​
export default async () => {
  const file = join(homedir(), "Desktop", "yolo.txt");
  await writeFile(file, "I will be deleted soon!");
  await trash(file);
};
Parameters
Name
Description
Type
path*
​
​PathLike or PathLike[]
Return
A Promise that resolves when all files are moved to the trash.
open
Opens a target with the default application or specified application.
Signature
async function open(target: string, application?: Application | string): Promise<void>;
Example
import { open } from "@raycast/api";
​
export default async () => {
  await open("https://www.raycast.com", "com.google.Chrome");
};
Parameters
Name
Description
Type
target*
The file, folder or URL to open.
string
application
The application name to use for opening the file. If no application is specified, the default application as determined by the system is used to open the specified file. Note that you can use the application name, app identifier, or absolute path to the app.
string or Application​
Return
A Promise that resolves when the target has been opened.
Types
Application
An object that represents a locally installed application on the system.
It can be used to open files or folders in a specific application. Use getApplications or getDefaultApplication to get applications that can open a specific file or folder.
Properties
Property
Description
Type
name*
The display name of the application.
string
path*
The absolute path to the application bundle, e.g. /Applications/Raycast.app,
string
bundleId
The bundle identifier of the application, e.g. com.raycast.macos.
string
PathLike
PathLike: string | Buffer | URL;
Supported path types.
API Reference - Previous
Storage
Next - API Reference
User Interface
Last modified 27d ago
Copy link
Edit on GitHub
Outline
API Reference
getApplications
getDefaultApplication